The number of people getting vaccinated against the coronavirus increased fourfold in Wallonia after it was announced that the Covid Safe Ticket (CST) will be required in bars, restaurants and clubs, among other places.
Before the announcement was made last week that proof of vaccination, a negative test result or recovery from the virus will be mandatory in Wallonia’s hospitality industry, as well as in sports’ centres and for the cultural sector and healthcare sector, around 600 people were getting vaccinated every day.
“We then went up to an average of 1,200 per day; and since the announcement that the CST would soon be put in place, we’re at about 2,600 to 2,700 persons per day,” Walloon Health Minister Christie Morreale told La Libre.
As a result, Wallonia has crossed the symbolic threshold of 70% of its population (82% of adults) having received at least a first dose against the virus.
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Meanwhile, all people with underlying medical conditions have been invited to take a third dose of the vaccine and, so far, some 60,000 persons – roughly half of this target group – have received their booster shot.
From 1 November, the use of the CST – which proves that someone has been fully vaccinated, recently tested negative or recovered from the virus in the past half-year – will be expanded in the same way as was done in Brussels, starting from 15 October.
In Brussels, it took slightly longer for the expansion of the CST to have an effect on the vaccination coverage rate, however, according to the Common Community Commission (CoCom), it now seems to have led to a higher number of residents getting the vaccine, as appointments for the first vaccine shot increased by 25% when compared to September.
